HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04091985 - IO.6 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Contra l_/ ra
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
Costa
DATE: March 25, 1985 County
SUBJECT: MEDI-CAL ELIGIBILITY PROCESS
SPECIFIC REQUESTS) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
Acknowledge status report of our Committee and direct Health Services Director and
Social Services Director to report to our Committee again in approximately two months
on the extent to which the use of Financial Counselors has improved the financial
condition of the Health Services Department. -
BACKGROUND:
On February 24, 1984, the Board of Supervisors approved the use of Financial Counselors
in the Health Services Department in an effort to insure that all potential resources
for payment of hospital and outpatient bills are explored before the use of County
funds is considered. The Internal Operations Committee was directed to report on the
operational aspects of the use of financial counselors. During the intervening months,
the Health Services Department has implemented the use of Financial Counselors and
now has ten such counselors assigned.
Our Committee met with staff from the Health Services Department on March 25, 1985 and
received a report on the financial class which was assigned to a patient at admission
based on the information provided by the patient versus the financial class which was
assigned to the patient ten days after discharge. The data presented, which was for
discharges for the week ending March 2, 1985, generally showed substantial increases in
third party payors and corresponding decreases in "self-pay" which generally represents
bad debt which is eventually written off as a County cost.
While this data seems to demonstrate the value of the Financial Counselor positions, it
is only for one week out of the year and does not reflect any impact there may have
been on the Social Service Department. Our Committee would, therefore, like to keep
this item on referral and meet in about two months with both Health Services and
Social Services staff. At that time, we would like to review all available data on
the value of Financial Counselors and would also like to hear from the Social Services
Director on the impact the Financial Counselor program has had on his department.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _�(_ ON BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OT�IE
je �
SIGNATURE(S) Tom Torl akson T mOwers
ACTION OF BOARD ON April 9, 1985 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT I ) 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
County Administrator
CC: Health Services Director ATTESTED
Social Service Director PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
All Cities SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382/7-e8 BY +moi. , DEPUTY
I1. Medi-Cal Eligibility Process
j 2. Health Services• Dept financial condition